help with black and blue salvias

17 years ago

Not sure what is wrong with my B&B's----look healthy but very few blooms--lots of leaves and the size is right compared to last years but very few flowers---what fertilizer am I lacking-----any Ideas--thanks---ED

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Comments (6)

jenny_in_se_pa
17 years ago
You may have to be patient. Sometimes it takes a bit before they start blooming but once they do, they go for a long time.
trey77
17 years ago
Jenny is right I have 5 B & B's and 3 are bloooming the other two are just growing. Sometimes they will take awhile to bloom, but once they do, you and your birds' patience will be rewarded.
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lisa_z5wmi
17 years ago
It could be the temperature, Ed- I'm on the west side of Michigan and we've been having really cool nights for the past month. I have yet to see a bloom on my B+B. Last year it was very late before I got any blooms, and I can't say I was all that impressed with the number of blooms or the size of the plant. It re-seeded itself, or I wouldn't have bothered this year at all. I think it is one of those plants that is just nicer farther south.
rita_h
17 years ago
Over-fertilization? Too much nitrogen would encourage a lot of vegetative growth -- I think salvias are light feeders. Also, a few years ago, I overpotted a small B&B plant in spring -- a 6" plant in a 16-inch container -- and it didn't bloom until the fall when the roots filled the pot and the plant was 6-feet tall. (The display was spectacular, though, when it finally bloomed.) My plants are blooming now about 12 to 16 inches tall, and they're still growing.
flutterbug
17 years ago
I have a question about b&b, should I cut the stem off low after flowers are gone? Also, is there a way to control asiatic beetles, without hurting the hummers? I was going out at night and squishing them, but it doesn't seem to be paying off. Someone told me pepper spray, but I don't know if it would bother the hummers.
jenny_in_se_pa
17 years ago
You wouldn't actually cut the stem but look for where the flower panicle begins and cut at that point - just above a pair of leaves.

I'd be afraid to use pepper spray because the hummers use their tongues to sip nectar and clean their bills after eating insects - often obtained from the plants. I suppose about the only thing you can do is hand pick and/or maybe knock them off with a strong spray of water and try to gather them up from the ground to discard.

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help with black and blue salvias

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jenny_in_se_pa

trey77

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